Sceneggiatura, fotografia / Screenplay, Photography: Hovhannes Ishkhanyan Montaggio / Editing: Wei-Yuan Song Suono / Sound: Thomas Fourel, Hovhannes Ishkhanyan Interpreti / Cast: Hasmik Petrosyan, Garik Amolikyan Produzione / Produced by: SaNoSi Productions Coproduzione / Co-produced by: Vaver (Hovhannes Ishkhanyan), Lyon Capitale TV, Bip TV Con il sostegno di / Supported by: CNC, Ciclic – Région Centre-Val de Loire, PROCIREP-ANGOA
Carabina, a gay artist, drag performer and sex worker is married to Hasmik, a heterosexual lawyer defending the right of the LGBTQ+ community. Having become parents a few months ago, they are faced with a dilemma: will the child grow up or not in Armenia, where 93% of the population declares itself hostile to homosexuality? “I am from the generation living the transition from socialism to capitalism … from Soviet Armenia to independent Armenia … My generation due to the collapse of the Soviet Union had a chance to celebrate personal freedoms and was fighting for keeping and extending them. My generation questioned all models of relationships and families passing traditionally and broke them. But they did not create any model for themselves, and as a result, the relationship turned into something unhealthy, meaningless … When Hasmik told me that she was preparing to marry Garik, I asked myself ‘Why is a couple whose relationship is not accepted by society lasting?’… And I followed Hasmik and Garik with a camera to find the answer to the question ‘What is love?’ ” (H. Ishkhanyan)
Hovhannes Ishkhanyan Hovhannes Ishkhanyan is an Armenian writer born in 1988, journalist and film director. Having graduated from the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs in 2014, he writes for various publications Ankakh, Yerkir and Aravot and literary magazines. A great defender of human rights in Armenia, he is the editor-in-chief of PINK Armenia, an LGBTQ+ NGO. Beauty and the Lawyer premiered in competition at Dok Leipzig, where it was awarded the Silver Dove for Best Feature-Length Film.
